Strength training relieves chronic neck pain

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women with chronic pain in the trapezius muscle, the muscle that extends along the back of the neck, high-intensity strength training targeting the neck and shoulder muscles provides long-lasting pain relief, new study results show. General fitness training, on the other hand, offers little benefit, Danish investigators report in the current issue of Arthritis Care and Research.

The prevalence of chronic neck pain has increased as more workers spend long hours in front of a computer, note Dr. Lars L. Andersen, of the National Research Centre for the Working Environment, Copenhagen, and his colleagues. Although physical exercise is usually recommended, the most effective type of program is unknown.

The research team tested the effects of two different supervised programs: specific strength training using dumbbell exercises (one-arm row, shoulder abduction, shoulder elevation, reverse flies, and upright row) and general fitness training using a bicycle ergometer.

Forty-eight women with chronic neck muscle pain (trapezius myalgia), ages 30 to 60 years, were randomly assigned to one of the two training groups or to a "control" group that received general health counseling. Both training programs were conducted in 20-minute sessions 3 times a week for 10 weeks, during which time exercise intensity was progressively increased.

After 10 weeks, general pain and worsening pain in the strength training group decreased by 71 percent and 79 percent, respectively. Neither the general fitness training nor counseling had any significant, long-term effect on pain.

Furthermore, pain levels among the women in the specific strength training group remained significantly lower than the pain levels of women in the other two groups at 10-week follow-up evaluations.

Based on these findings, Andersen and his associates conclude that "supervised high-intensity dynamic strength training of the painful muscle 3 times a week for 20 minutes should be recommended in the treatment of trapezius myalgia."

SOURCE: Arthritis Care and Research, January 2008.